Re: Should Sony consider an unused account purge?

It could just assign random numbers and letters to inactive accounts until they log in again and choose a new name. I know how difficult they have said it would be to have some kind of name change, difficult however is not impossible. I am not saying they will or even should do this. Some people have expressed concern about this, and while I'm not personally bothered by it, I was offering a solution. Anytime you are solving a problem there will be things you must do along the way.

The stuff that you have downloaded could just as easily be tied to an email rather than a name.

This was just an idea, you have made valid points as to why they probably couldn't do this.

As for impersonation, I really can't see it being a bigger problem than it is already. If you don't give anybody your email or your password then you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

Re: An unused account purge is in order

While I agree with @LAXfrEEk880 I don't completely disagree with you either CaptainAlbator. Yes peoples priorities can change and things can happen but not having any activity for 2 or more years is a bit much. I have 2 friends that I met when I got my PS3 in '06 and over time they have had kids but they disappeared from the network for only a couple months then came back to see whats new to disappear again for a little while longer. Your Military example is a better argument but even then deployments don't last more than 2 years (unless by choice). I recently helped my cousin in England set up his account/I.D. and we went through 8 different variations of 8 different name choices, while I did not look up all of them a good majority of them were unused. So just as Sony can send out an email reminding you that you have unused funds in your account and they will be lost if not used the same can be done for I.D.'s. An email can be generated giving the individual say a month to log in, be it on PS3, PS4, PS Vita or a connected website (Paystation.com) and if not done they have up to say 3 months to reactivate it before it is gone forever.

Re: Should Sony consider an unused account purge?

Well here is a solution to that.. Free up the name for someone else to use if a person wants, and should the person come back online 5 years later can choose to retake the id ( if no one claimed it yet) or choose a new one for free, and just have the system update all the purchased content that he / she made to reflect the new id.

Re: Should Sony consider an unused account purge?

Instead of leaving it soley up to Sony to delete unactive PSN accounts, a better suggestion would be to add a feature within PSN accounts settings that allows that specific user to fully deactivate and delete their account. Im suggestion this idea, due to many on this forum discussion openly stating that they wouldnt mind losing a few of their accounts. Im sure that their are many other which would agree to "not minding losing a few PSN accounts". I believe that by giving the users the option that it will allow those to pick and choose which accounts they would like to keep active and which accounts they no longer have a use for. Yes, i do understand that not all will use this feature, and i do understand that just because the feature may exist that it doesnt necessarily mean that itll be used wisely, however under the circumstances this is the more wise choice to make on Sony's behalf. Those who use their account but are unactive for long periods of time will remain, able to use their account. Those who have many accounts will be able to delete the ones the wish to no longer use, opening up gamer tags. Lastly, those who have multiple accounts who wont delete ones the dont use, it wouldnt be too much of a big deal, because many others will be opening up, and replace by new Playstation gamers. Feel Free to agree or disagree, or if anyone can help make my suggestion better that would be great too. Any suggestion is welcomed.

Re: Should Sony consider an unused account purge?

I think that is a very good idea, though not an entire solution to the problem. Many people would not bother deleting their accounts, and instead just never log in on them again. I do not see any negative to being able to delete your account.

Just to add to it, maybe upon deleting your account, you cannot log into it again for 30 days or else the deletion will be cancelled.

Re: Should Sony consider an unused account purge?

I see a big issue with this mainly because people have digital games and premium DLC tied to these accounts. Now if I was to leave for a few years, should I really be at risk of losing thousands of dollars I may have invested?

Re: Should Sony consider an unused account purge?

Great, add on suggestion. Although, with any idea we create,there will be a downide.Either to myself,you or millions of psn users.

The key her, is finding the best solution that would be best suited to to all users or at least as high of percentage as possible. Many if sony incorprates multiple options for account deletions maybe itll have the right shabang,lol, that it needs.A cross between personal deletions with a range of options spanning to deletions made by sony themselves( athough, this one needs alot of thought behind it....Timeframes,warning, loss of progress/ preventions and fail safes).

Re: Should Sony consider an unused account purge?

Yeah, that's a sticky one. My idea is for Sony to make these user accounts machine specific such as the serial number attached to them. I get really frustrated at the smug people on Playstation Live who get banned for doing bad stuff then just easily create a new username and get back on PS Live. These people perhaps don't have any particular games they are concerned about losing so they just go and create a new username that someone else could use. When these idiots get banned their machine's serial number should be attached to their profile and history of being banned. That way they can't just easily create a new username and go back on PS Live acting stupid. If Sony attached the serial to the account profile they could set a time limit for no shorter than 90 days for people that get banned. This would only be in case someone wants to sell their machine and the new owner wouldn't be burdened by the previous owners dirty laundry.

Re: Should Sony consider an unused account purge?

I think the only way that they could shut down an account is if it had no money spent on it.

If someone had only purchased on online only game, and the servers were shut down for that game, and they had not logged in for a pre determined amount of time then this account should be able to be shut down.

If someone had even one piece of DLC purchase for $.99, and was still able to play the game and use the DLC, then no matter how long they did not log in, this account should not be shut down.

Now, if it was something as simple (or complicated, depending how you look at it) as having to change your name, then it should not matter how much money you have invested in the account. This is just my opinion though.

Re: Should Sony consider an unused account purge?

i have a quick question, those people that invested money on online games, played, beat, got trophies for and experienced the game, what more is there to go back to?? i have never been a trophy collector, ive always been more of a competitive fps(kdr>all ) type of guy. so is it truly that big of a deal if you loose trophies from games your never going to play again? to me the memories are what count more. not a little icon that said you got a trophy for doing something minuscule in game.

but thats just me can someone give me a good counter to that?? and play devils advocate?